Is that valid question? Aren't both same? How different are they?
Answer is not simple unless we understand what they actually mean. These are mostly used in the wrong context. Over time, we have diluted their meanings to raise a misguided generation of Christian teachings.
Yes, it is time to see the truth. It is time to open our spiritual eyes and see where we lost our way, where our priorities changed, where we got pulled away. Learning where we took the wrong turn is the first step to correct the course of our journey.
First, let us see what these words mean.
Faith: It is my belief in God. I can believe in any God. I can believe in multiple Gods. I can believe in Gods from different religions. I can have faith in as many Gods as I want. I can have faith in no God as well.
Religion: It is a category created based on Faith of our parents. I belong to Christian religion because my parents are Christian, rather, because my father is a Christian. He is a christian because his father was and so on. Technically, I can be part of one religion. Everyone is assigned a religion based on birth or choice, though I can choose not to follow it's Faith.
My religion does not represent my Faith.
In the current age when Religious Conversion is huge and sensitive issue, understanding these terms and their differences is important. People who spread gospel feel it is their right and others feel offended.
First and foremost, when we share gospel, what we share is Faith, not Religion. People who accept your words need to change their faith, not necessarily their religion. This is tough to understand. Tough to accept as well.
Imagine a Christian family where one member is an atheist, how many of them will be saved at rapture? Imagine a family from a different Religion, where three out of four members have faith in Jesus, are baptized, and are living a spiritual life. How many of them will be saved at rapture? Here, Religion is NOT a criterion to be saved, Faith is.
In the 1st century, followers of Jesus were called Christians, not because they registered as a religion, but because they followed Jesus. Luke 7:50 says Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace.". Nowhere was religion discussed or considered. When gospel was shared on the day of Pentecost, three thousand joined them (Acts: 2: 41) . "Them" did not denote a religion, rather denoted a group with same faith.
A religion called Christianity got created in due course of time. We did not realize that we started emphasizing on Religion than Faith as we grew. We got corrupted from Sharing Faith to adding people to our Religion. Religion replaced Faith in our minds.
We lost our way when we started taking pride in the long registered membership list in our congregations. We lost our way when we called members and not believers. We lost our way when we added people to the congregation and not to the Church as Jesus envisioned it. We lost our way when we started renaming people who accepted our Faith. We lost our way when we forced them to change their Religion in spite of the fact that they already accepted our Faith.
This is not the fault of the current generation alone. This misconception started earlier. It started when people wanted "Mega Churches", when people wanted to boast about the strength of their congregations. That's when changing religion became important.
Let us go back to the basics. Let's have believers, not members. Let's have Faith conversions, not Religion conversions. Let's have foundation of Faith in so called Christian families. Let us not identify us as registered Christian Families, but Christians by Faith.
